The prior art includes many different types of outdoor lighting fixtures, including temple lights, floodlights and spotlights. While temple lights, which typically throw a circle of light directly downward, are certainly useful in many situations, the present invention and the remaining discussion pertain primarily to spotlights and floodlights, often called "spots" and "floods."
Outdoor spots and floods, in contrast to temple lights, produce a fairly concentrated beam which can be directed laterally to illuminate trees, bushes, and various architectural features, for example. A floodlight provides a broader beam which can "flood" a large area with medium intensity light, e.g., for home security. Spotlights, on the other hand, emit a tighter, more concentrated beam capable of brightly illuminating an entryway, house numbers, or any of a wide variety of architectural or garden details. When purchasing an outdoor lighting system, therefore, the homeowner historically had to know, in advance, which lights (spots or floods) to buy and install. This was inconvenient, particularly when conditions changed following initial installation, e.g., when a floodlight was initially suitable in a particular location but subsequently a spotlight would be more appropriate.
Another problem associated with prior art spots and floods was the shape and orientation of their beams. Many prior art spots and floods projected circular beams, for example. While circular beams are adequate in a few situations, most architectural details (e.g., doors, house numbers) and lawn and garden areas and features (trees, walkways, bushes) are more or less rectangular in shape. In view of this, some manufacturers offered spots and floods having rectangular beams. While this was an improvement, these lights were designed such that their beam orientation was fixed relative to the fixture. Thus, a given rectangular-beam light would provide a "vertical" rectangle, or a "horizontal" rectangle, but not both. That is, there was no way to easily convert one type of fixture (producing one beam orientation) to another, particularly after the fixture was installed. This inhibited the ability of the homeowner to switch from illuminating a relatively tall and narrow object (e.g., a door) to illuminating a relatively short and wide object (e.g., a squat flowering bush).
Still another problem associated with prior spots and floods, particularly those supported by a ground stake, is that they don't possess an elegant way to connect the electrical cable to the bulb/lens assembly. Reference is made to FIG. 1 which is a rear perspective view of a typical prior art stake-supported floodlight. As shown in FIG. 1, the cable connects to the bulb/lens assembly (the assembly which houses the bulb and carries the lens) at the rear thereof and runs down the outside of the stake to the ground. Thus, the cable is exposed to the elements and potential abuse by animals, children and vandals. In addition, this design entails a back cover plate, the function of which is to hold the cable in conductive contact with the bulb/lens assembly, and some type of connecter to secure the back cover plate to the main body of the bulb/lens assembly. The back cover plate and connector add to the cost of the light and detract from its appearance.
The present invention addresses the problems associated with prior art spots and floods. In particular, the invention is a convertible light fixture which can function as a spot or flood, as desired. In a preferred embodiment the spot/flood fixture provides a rectangular beam having an adjustable orientation; and unique means for protecting the electrical cable and conductively connecting the cable to the bulb.